Unlock Sustainable Change with Swap-Based Goals
Hi all, Coach Lauren here!
Have you ever thought about what types of goals set you up for success?
It is the new year, and surely, many of us have New Year’s resolutions on our minds. It is an unfortunate known fact, however, that these resolutions often do not last long; there’s even a “Quitter’s Day,” which falls on the second Friday of January, and research shows a significant amount of the population has already stopped their goal by that time.
There are all sorts of tools out there, such as the SMART Goal framework, that aim to keep us on track, and they all certainly have value. But I wanted to share one of my favorite types of goals: the “swap-based goal”.
In the “swap-based goal,” you take an honest look at your life and look for what you can “swap” out for an upgraded version. I have personally found success with this; here are some examples that I’ve implemented:
- Opportunity: I felt like I was shopping too much, spending too much money, and harming the environment with overconsumption
- Resolution: Spend the year “swapping” shopping malls for thrift stores. This still gave me the option to shop, which is something I love to do, but it supported me in my goal of spending less money and doing better for the environment. Plus, at that time in my life, I lived quite far from thrift stores, so the accessibility inherently made me shop less.
- Opportunity: I wanted to upskill my cooking but often got stuck in decision fatigue
- Resolution: Spend the year cooking “swapping” 1 meal per month with popular foods from a different country. This reduced the decision fatigue; I picked a country at random and then researched some of the popular foods. It didn’t add significant work to my life because I would have been cooking regardless.
I’m a big believer in sustainable change, and the “swap-based goal” has personally been a major unlock as opposed to “adding” or “discontinuing” something from my life. For goals that take more time, such as adding a gym routine, this can set us up for more success to ensure we don’t over-schedule ourselves. Or for goals where we really are trying to reduce a certain behavior, such as reducing social media time, it can be helpful to think about “What could I gain as a result? How can I fill this time so I don’t fall into old habits?”.
Here are some ideas to get you started!
- Swap nighttime social media scrolling while reading a book.
- Swap sparkling water for alcohol.
- Swap 1 hour of TV with the gym.
- Swap “combative mindset” with “collaborative mindset.”
